Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Chicago

Responds to emails in a timely manner. Finished my 30-minute appointment in less than 10 minutes.

Wonderful! All the staff were very accommodating, kind, courteous, and polite. The visa wait didn't matter at all because it is their protocol and must be respected.

When I visited the Korean Consulate, my case was complicated in many ways. However, thanks to the sharp abilities and experience of Ms. Park and Lim, the visa officer, the work was handed very neatly and other office work was also completed quickly. I am very grateful that there are young people who work hard at our Chicago Consulate. I am also very grateful to the Chicago Consul who came out and thanked me in person. I would like to express my sincere gratitude once again for your hard work. You all are THE BEST!!! In Louisville, KY with Respect

I had low expectations of what I would experience here, since government offices (whether US or another country's) aren't exactly known for being friendly or efficient. However, applying for my D-2 Exchange student visa was easy and efficient. Another reviewer already stated what documents are needed, so I won't repeat that information. I made an appointment for 2PM on the consul 24 website, which was a bit confusing but not impossible to figure out. I arrived 5 minutes before and got a ticket to go up to the elevator to the 27th floor. At 2PM, I went up to the visa window and was done within 5 minutes. As long as you make an appointment and bring the proper documents, you will have an easy and smooth time. Much better than say, going to the DMV. Cost for US citizens student visa is $45, needs to be paid with cash or money order. I paid cash. No appointment is needed to pick up your passport. Don't go between 1-2PM, as that is their lunch break. I did have to wait for 5-10 minutes at the window because no one was sitting there, so it might be wise to have a bell or something to alert someone in the back office that you are waiting. But all the employees I interacted with were courteous and friendly, which is all I could ask for. Most of the reviewers on here who are negative likely didn't prepare properly, and they shouldn't blame the employees for getting mad at them for their ill preparedness.

Very efficient and straightforward, I applied for a student visa so it took extra documents processing. They emailed me first when there was an issue with the materials I sent in and we got it sorted out easily over email in a day. When they say 7 days, they mean exactly 7 days, so keep that in mind when planning and don't expect it earlier (don't be like me, who sent things in so late that I got my passport back literally the day before I had to leave--my fault, not theirs). 7 days is already incredibly fast. A paper proof of visa is included with your returned passport, no digital version is issued. If you are wary about calling based on other comments, emailing is a good option, though they usually take 1-2 business days to respond. Angry reviewers need to realize that not only are they working with upset callers in a second language over the phone, but Korean service culture is not the same as the US; "hurry hurry" culture of resolving things as quickly as possible, along with any language difficulties is the cause of your bad phone experiences, not because they are rude. Maybe try learning some Korean to make the process a bit smoother 😉

Korean consulate keep very old style processing, not easy to get by English. Unbelievable old style than korea's reputation.

The place is super efficient. As soon as they received my visa application, they called me to ask for the missing documents. I provided those the next day and within 7 days, I had my visa mailed to me. I did call tp inquire on a Friday about my application & the person on the phone did not even ask for my name to look up. He just told me to call on the following Tuesday to inquire, saying that it was too early. Anyways, I was about to change my flight but then luckily I received the visa on Saturday. I think there is staff shortage so maybe that is why the person could not look up my status. Other than that, I am very happy with the Chicago branch as this was completely mail in & I did not have to drive to Chicago and spend so much money.